Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) pose a serious threat to human health, with atherosclerosis being a leading cause of heart disease and stroke. Elevated cysteine (Cys) levels have been closely linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, underscoring its significance in cardiovascular health. However, current detection methods for cysteine in serum and atherosclerotic plaques present challenges in sensitivity, specificity, dynamic monitoring, and invasiveness. The development of more sensitive, specific, and noninvasive assays is needed to enable accurate monitoring of cysteine levels. This study introduces the development and characterization of Cys-NPs, a sensitive and selective tool for imaging cysteine in foam cells and atherosclerotic mice. Encapsulation of the HD-probe using DSPE-PEG to obtain Cys-NPs effectively reduced interference from glutathione (GSH), leading to successful preparation and validation of Cys-NPs’s nanoscale structure. At the same time, Cys-NPs was able to use the differences in Hcy and Cys concentrations in vivo to better assess Cys levels in vivo. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated Cys-NPs’s effective imaging of cysteine in foam cells and atherosclerotic mice, highlighting its potential for noninvasive assessment of cysteine levels in ischemic heart disease research and clinical practice.

中文翻译：

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基于生物传感器的半胱氨酸水平成像新方法在一型心脏病中：来自临床前模型和人类样本的见解


心血管疾病 （CVD） 对人类健康构成严重威胁，动脉粥样硬化是心脏病和中风的主要原因。半胱氨酸 （Cys） 水平升高与心血管疾病风险增加密切相关，强调了其在心血管健康中的重要性。然而，目前血清和动脉粥样硬化斑块中半胱氨酸的检测方法在敏感性、特异性、动态监测和侵袭性方面存在挑战。需要开发更灵敏、更特异和无创的检测方法，以实现半胱氨酸水平的准确监测。本研究介绍了 Cys-NPs 的开发和表征，Cys-NPs 是一种用于泡沫细胞和动脉粥样硬化小鼠中半胱氨酸成像的敏感和选择性工具。使用 DSPE-PEG 封装 HD 探针以获得 Cys-NPs，有效减少了谷胱甘肽 （GSH） 的干扰，从而成功制备和验证了 Cys-NPs 的纳米级结构。同时，Cys-NPs 能够利用体内 Hcy 和 Cys 浓度的差异来更好地评估体内 Cys 水平。体外和体内研究表明，Cys-NPs 对泡沫细胞和动脉粥样硬化小鼠中的半胱氨酸有效成像，突出了其在缺血性心脏病研究和临床实践中对半胱氨酸水平进行无创评估的潜力。